Central Karoo

The Erdvark Trail is located roughly 45 km west of the Karoo National Park. It winds up and through the foothills, valleys and tablelands of the escarpment, where the Karoo’s Koup ramps up to the Hoogland Karoo, in a great circuit some 67.8 km in length. Over 5 days you will climb and descend through 2800 m of elevation. The highest altitude on the trail is about 1468 m (ASL) if your route option on day 5 takes you over Tafelkop. The trail straddles the border between the Western and Northern Cape provinces. There is little to no water along the route, so carry plenty of water, especially in the summer months.

The trail has been well designed to minimise erosion in the arid scrubland and gradients are kept to a minimum. There are many thoughtful routings to show various natural features and the trail is well signposted and marked. The owner and operator, Marge Vivier related to me how her husband, Flip, who envisioned and designed the trail, sent her to experience the Oorlogskloof Trail, which is widely recognised as a particularly well-designed trail, laid out to take the hiker to every interesting natural feature. It sounded like a hectic experience with heavy rain and flooded rivers, but despite that, the lessons appear to have been well learned. And of course, few places equal the tranquility, silence and vastness of the Great Karoo.

Day 1: Boplaas to Middelplaas

Distance: 13 km, climbing through 556 m and descending through 558 m.

After overnighting comfortably in the former Boplaas farmhouse, we set out at the crack of dawn, the imposing Tafelkop towering ahead of us in the golden light of sunrise. The trail follows a kloof and then climbs to one of the first dolerite sills and skirts Tafelkop. The sills resemble giant steps up to the flat hill tops that form the escarpment. Those that have become detached from the escarpment over millennia of erosion, like Tafelkop, are the isolated Karoo “koppies”. The flat tops are also dolerite sills. Over day 1 the trail traverses and follows these dolerite cliffs with commanding views across the Koup to distant Swartberg range. Having departed so early we strolled into Middelplaas and the Bloubos hunting lodge at midday!

Day 2: Middelplaas to Arendsnes

Distance: 9.9 km climbing through 414 m and descending through 199 m.

This is an easy day, although it was quite hot. Having departed a little later, we were nevertheless at Arendsnes in the mid-morning. The lodge is still under construction and is located above the confluence of two kloofs, dry waterfalls on either side. At dusk the views across the Koup to the Swartberg are awesome, and early the next morning there was a lightning display over the distant range, a harbinger of the weather to come. Arendsnes takes its name from a rock formation in one of the kloofs that resembles an eagle craning its neck out of a nest.

Day 3: Arendsnes to Rietvlei

Distance: 15.4 m climbing through 723 m and descending through 730 m.

The forecast was for wind and the first third of the hike was a steady climb to the nek at Donkerhoek, traversing the southern aspect of Kraaifontein se Berg. Once over the saddle we descended to a red dolerite sill and a bit further walked below a sill feature known as the Organ Pipes, dolerite pillars arranged in a wavy line. From there, the route angles down to the Koekemoer River valley and traverses several green side kloofs. At Rietvlei the overnight accommodation is an old farm school building, arranged into two dormitories. Hot shower water is provided by burning wood in a “donkey”.

Day 4: Rietvlei to Groot Droom

Distance: 15.4 km climbing through 428 m and descending through 538 m.

The first part of the walk through riverine thorn thicket was easy, but later the trail jacks up above a dolerite cliff on a bend in the river and then climbs along a platform for what seems an interminable distance before it crosses a saddle and dips down to Groot Droom. It had started raining, so the plan was to reach Groot Droom early in the day, which proved to be a sound plan as the rain bucketed down during the afternoon and overnight. I had been sceptical of the chances of rain in the Karoo, and had thus packed very light rain gear, but the cutoff low system drove the rain deep into the escarpment’s valleys and we were thoroughly soaked. But it was nothing that a roaring fire in Groot Droom’s massive fireplace could not fix – although one errant boot had its sole burnt off. I was impressed with the vacuum tube solar system that produced piping hot water despite the sun never having shone that day. The “donkey” backup was not required.

Day 5: Groot Droom to Boplaas via Tafelkop

Distance: 14.1 km ascending through 680 m and descending through 731 m. Day 5 animation below:

Hikers have the option of returning to Boplaas via Tafelkop’s summit, or by skirting it to the north. Five of our party of nine hikers had the need to get back to Cape Town, or hit the road home, that day, so they took the “low road” and left early. The remaining four decided to depart a bit later in the hope that the cloud over Tafelkop would clear so that we could traverse the flat summit. We would make the decision as we approached the top, and by the time we got to the trail junction, Tafelkop had cleared and blue sky was displacing cloud. Tafelkop is a perfectly flat mesa shaped like a pelican’s beak, with trig beacons at either end, and an antenna tower (I think that the remote farms’ microwave Internet signals are repeated from here). It was windless and from this vantage point the Nuweveld escarpment to the north, Merweville’s Tafelberg in the west, and the Koup and Swartberg to the south were clearly visible. We stopped for a scenic lunch below the northern spur, and then strolled along and down the sill steps, past a spring and Piekniekval cliffs, which features a tufa, to Boplaas. A satisfying day, capped by a fine braai and peaceful sleep at Boplaas.

Visit the Erdvark Trail photo album

Trail information

• Book at their website or Facebook page.
• Accommodation at each overnight stop is in comfortable cottages/dormitories/lodges, although Arendsnes is still under construction.
• Do stay at Boplaas on the nights preceding and following the hike.
• All accommodation sites, except Arendsnes, provide hot water and showers. Firewood is provided should a “donkey” need to be fired up.
• All accommodation sites have gas stoves, crockery and cutlery.
• All beds have a cover and pillow, so only sleeping bags are required.
• Some accommodation sites have Wi-Fi or mobile signal.